Manzanillo, here we come!

After having severe honeymoon ADD, Luis and I have finally decided where we will be honeymooning after our June 2011 wedding.  We definitely wanted to go someplace tropical, but June is pretty much the worst time for most places because of hurricanes, and nothing kills romance like a category 3 hurricane!  So we will be heading to Manzanillo, Mexico.  Located on the Pacific Ocean, June is absolutely the best time to be there!  With day tempuratures in the mid 80's, beautiful waterfalls, snorkeling and relaxation, I can't imagine a more beautiful place to spend the first few days of my life as Mrs. Iniguez.  Here are a few pics of this beautiful resort town:

My medal

Running my first triathlon in April completely changed my life.  I found something I was really passionate about and something I actually enjoyed doing as much as possible.  Just completing the triathlon was amazing but I was really looking forward to having a medal to commemorate my first tri.  Except, when I finished and went to get my medal I was told they ran out.  SUPER BUMMER! I was still on an endorphine high from completing my tri but was pretty bummed I didn't get a medal.  Apparently, a ton of people had signed up the day of the event and they didn't have enough.  My awesome cousin Dom even offered to give me his but I couldn't accept it, it was his first too! I figured I'd just have great memories of completing it.  

Until I told one of my customers who works for the Temecula Rotary which put on the Triathlon that I didn't get a medal.  Next thing I know, she was on the phone with Terry, the man who helped put the whole thing together.  Not one week later, she tells me that Terry was going to come and drop off my medal to me personally.  I was beyond shocked!  He felt so bad that it was my first tri and that I didn't have something to take home with me.  He actually came to my work, put my medal on me and congratulated me on finishing himself!  He was so awesome and gracious! And now I have my first (of hopefully many) medals!

30 Days Sober

Thats right people you heard it.  I'm an addict.  A Coca-Cola Addict.  I drink ENTIRELY way to much, sometimes multiple times a day and not just a glass here or a sip there, I'm talking about a Super Sized cup refilled at least one more time in one meal!.  Yes, it was that bad.  Just so we know what we are working with here, a large 32 ounce Coke from McDonalds (who FYI has the best Coke EVER!) comes in at nearly 400 calories!  That is equivalent to a healthy sized lunch.  So no matter how healthy I eat, throw in one Coke a day and that can pretty much double a meal calorie wise .  Not to mention what it does to your insides and your teeth.  So a week before my triathlon last month I decided that I wasn't going to drink any Coke to prepare for my Tri.  Then I didn't have any the next week, or the next.  And today I hit 30 days.  It has been 30 days since I have had even a sip of Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero or any other carbonated variation.  Just water and Minute-Maid light Lemonade for me.  Sometimes I miss it, but most of the time I'm just happy that I am one step closer to being healthier.

Sometimes its not about how far you run

The last few days I have been in a running funk. I can't seem to get myself going and I think I may have increased my milage a little too much in one week because I was sore after my nearly 6 mile run on saturday. Today Amanda and I tried to run our usual 3+ mile course but after a mile or so we just weren't feelin' it. A combination of poor meal choices on both our parts and just plain old tiredness contributed to us walking most of our "run". But you know what? It was really great. It was a beautiful evening, the brisk walking was a great way to losen up our legs and we got to catch up on a little conversation, which we never get enough of. So even though I didn't get nearly as many miles in as I wanted to, I realized its not always about how far we run, but about the fun we have doing it.

Ms. Green Thumb? Hopefully!

I started a garden.  I have no idea what I am doing and I've never grown anything in my life, but I figured I'd give it a shot.  I planted tomatoes, grape tomatoes, Serrano chilies and jalapeños along with some mint and rosemary in little pots until I can treat my soil in my actual garden to put them in the ground.  My friend Cassie started her garden a few months ago and it really got me thinking about how much better this could be.  Cheaper (hopefully as long as I don't kill anything) and totally organic.  If this goes well I'm hoping to plant some lettuce, squash, cucumbers, cilantro, raspberries and blueberries.  Here's a little sneak preview of my mini-garden so far.

Temecula Challenge Triathlon

I did it.  On Sunday I completed my first (of many I hope) triathlons!  I can't even explain how much fun and how accomplished I felt afterwards!  Out of about 350 triathletes, I came in 261st and I was 12th in my age division.  Not bad for my first one I think!  This specific Triathlon was a reverse one so we started with the run, then the bike and finished with the swim.  I got a personal best time on my run which I was really excited about, since running is not my strongest event.  I told myself I would be happy if I did the 3.1 miles in 30 minutes and I ended up doing it in 26:36! I was so excited! The bike was a little tough, considering it was 17 miles but I did pretty well.  I lost some times there compared to the other girls in my age groups so I know what I have to work on.  The last leg, was the swim which I kicked butt on!  I was the third fastest swimmer in my age group!  I completed the triathlon in 1:36:55.  Here are a few pics from Sunday.... I can't wait to do it again!

The start of the run

Finishing up the bike portion

The swim

My friend Jackie with her medal for placing in our age division! She did awesome!

The best part was that my cousin Dominic and I did our first Tri together and we ran the 5k portion with our cousin Mo.  It doesn't get much better than that =)

So Excited!!!

I've been a little MIA lately especially when it comes to blogging about my triathlon training but it has been going pretty well.  My running is getting better and I have been biking about 10-20 miles a week.  The only thing that has been hindering my riding is that I was riding my dad's mountain bike that was a little too big for me.  Getting off of it was awkward and riding for a long time was painful on my booty and lady parts =D.  Anyways, I was starting to dread my triathlon, especially riding the bike for so long and was actually starting to panic.  But then, my dad came to the rescue!  He texted me telling me that he found a great bike for me on Craigslist, for a GREAT price and we needed to go see it... NOW... because it was going to go quickly!  So we met up with the seller and I fell in love!  The bike was incredibly comfortable and I bought it right there and then!  Here she is:

Another added bonus was the girl selling it was about my age, a pretty experienced rider and was looking for some girls to ride with!  I love riding with people more experienced than me because they make me push myself.  I took the bike for a little spin this evening and I'm totally excited now!  I'm taking her out for her maiden voyage tomorrow morning and I've got 10 days before Tri-time! Can't wait!!!